Gaming devices which provide players awards in primary or base games are well known. Gaming devices generally require the player to place or make a wager to activate the primary or base game. In many of these gaming devices, the award is based on the player obtaining a winning symbol or symbol combination and based on the amount of the wager (e.g., the higher the wager, the higher the award). Symbols or symbol combinations which are less likely to occur usually provide higher awards.
In such known gaming devices, the amount of the wager made on the primary or base game by the player may vary. For instance, the gaming device enables the player to wager a minimum number of credits, such as one credit (e.g., one penny, nickel, dime, quarter or dollar) up to a maximum number of credits, such as five credits. This wager may be made by the player a single time or multiple times in a single play of the primary game. For instance, a slot game has one or more paylines and the gaming device enables the player to make a wager on each payline in a single play of the primary game. Slot games with 1, 3, 5, 9, 15 and 25 lines are widely commercially available. Thus, it is known that gaming devices enable players to make wagers of substantially different amounts on each play of the primary or base game ranging, for example, from one credit up to 125 credits (e.g., five credits on each of 25 separate paylines). This is also true for other wagering games, such as video draw poker, where players can wager one or more credits on each hand and where multiple hands can be played simultaneously. It should be appreciated that different players play at substantially different wagering amounts or levels.
Many known gaming devices have predetermined paytables which include a plurality of different predetermined winning symbols or winning symbol combinations and a plurality of different predetermined awards respectively associated with the predetermined winning symbols or winning symbol combinations for the wager placed. The paytable of a gaming device determines the award that a player wins if one of the predetermined winning symbols or winning symbol combinations occurs on an activated payline. Many paytables are also considered to include the probabilities of each of the winning symbols or winning symbol combinations occurring.
Each gaming device is typically configured to pay back, on average, a certain percentage of the amount of money wagered by players. The average percentage of money wagered that is expected to be paid back to the player as an award is sometimes called the average expected payback or average expected payback percentage. The average expected payback provided by a gaming device is determined at least in part by the paytable of the gaming device.
In general, although the actual payback may vary, the average expected payback for a gaming device is predetermined and remains constant as the wager levels increase. The awards associated with the winning symbol combinations of the gaming device's paytable typically increase as the wager increases in a linear manner. Many stand alone gaming devices have paytables which provide an enhanced top award (i.e., the highest number of credits to be paid out for a winning symbol combination) for making a maximum wager. This results in a higher average expected payback for making the maximum wager. Thus, in many gaming devices, for most wagers placed, the average expected payback provided by a gaming device is the same, except in the circumstances where a player is making the maximum wager.
Gaming devices are typically configured to have an average expected payback that is between 82% and 98%. The minimum average expected payback varies among jurisdictions and is typically established by law or regulation. A gaming device's average expected payback is typically set at the gaming device manufacturer's factory when the software for the gaming device is loaded, enabled, or configured.
One issue with such known gaming devices is that changing the average expected payback of a gaming device after that gaming device has been placed on a gaming establishment floor requires a physical modification or replacement of the software of the gaming device. Currently employed techniques for loading, modifying or replacing software in gaming devices are inconvenient, time-consuming and expensive. In such a situation, gaming operators must identify the gaming devices to receive the new software, locate the gaming devices, and temporarily shut down or remove the gaming devices from the gaming establishment floor. Service personnel must replace or modify the existing software of such gaming devices with the new software. Loading new software in gaming devices typically involves a large investment of time and effort by skilled personnel, and therefore results in relatively high expense. Each gaming establishment typically has hundreds or thousands of gaming devices, which are manufactured by various different gaming device manufacturers and which include a wide variety of different game configurations, versions and types. Thus, it is very difficult for gaming establishments to readily change or replace the software for all or a large number of their gaming devices. In addition, certain gaming regulations require that, if the average expected payout of a gaming device changes, a notification must be provided to the player playing at that gaming device, such as by changing the symbols of the gaming device.
It is known to provide server-based gaming systems where a central server provides game configurations or game software to the gaming devices of the gaming system. In certain server-based systems, game operators have the ability to change the average expected payback of a gaming device through the central server by swapping a first game program having a first paytable with a second game program having a paytable with a higher average expected payback. While this solves part of the problem, the gaming device manufacturers still need to provide the two different game programs with the two different paytables, and gaming establishments still need to purchase those specific games. Since each gaming device manufacturer's software is proprietary, it is difficult for one company to reconfigure or change the paytable of a game made by another company.
In general, low-denomination gaming devices have lower average expected paybacks. One issue with such low denomination gaming devices, such as penny gaming devices, is that regardless of whether a player is betting one penny or two hundred pennies, the average expected paypack does not change. Thus, players who are betting substantial amounts on low denomination gaming devices have the same average expected payback as players betting relatively small amounts.
Accordingly, there is a need to enable gaming establishments to offer players unique and customized game events that reward players for wagering at or above a designated level or for making certain bets in association with a play of a game. Such game events need to be provided in a way that does not burden gaming device manufacturers with having to develop an unreasonable amount of custom game programs or software for each different gaming establishment, and that does not burden gaming establishments with having to purchase and monitor many different game programs.
It is also known that gaming operators monitor the operation of gaming devices on the gaming establishment floor connected to a central server from a remote location (i.e., in a private area of the gaming establishment). This requires information to be communicated from each monitored gaming device to communicate information regarding wagers and game play to the central server on a regular basis. The communicated information typically includes wager amounts, payouts, time of play.
FIG. 3A generally illustrates one known gaming system which includes one or more gaming devices in communication with a central server. The gaming device enables a player to initiate a play of a primary game by making a primary game wager and forms primary game configuration data based on this as indicated by block 102. The primary game configuration data includes an amount of money a player has wagered on the primary game of the gaming device, a number of paylines activated, the type of game, a time the primary game was initiated, and a particular identification of the gaming device. The gaming device transmits a data packet 104 which includes the primary game configuration data to the central server. The central server receives the primary game configuration data as indicated by block 106. As indicated by block 108, the gaming device randomly generates and displays a primary game outcome. If the primary game outcome is a winning outcome, the gaming device determines an award based on the generated primary game outcome. The gaming device forms primary game outcome data based on the generated primary game outcome and any award as indicated by block 110. The gaming device transmits a data packet 112 which includes the primary game outcome data to the central server, and the central server recieves the primary game outcome data as indicated by block 114. The gaming device adds a number of credits to a credit meter for any award won based on the primary game outcome as indicated by block 116.
There have been no commercially viable solutions to the aforementioned problems with known gaming devices and gaming systems. There is also a continuing need to provide new and different gaming devices and gaming systems, as well as new and different ways to provide awards to players.